Perth massage therapist accused of assault

A male massage therapist who allegedly rubbed the breasts and nipples of three masseuses — offering one of the women “the best orgasm she had ever experienced” — has gone on trial for indecent assault.

Shannon Lyon, 39, was a specialist in “Kahuna” massage techniques, which he claimed involved “sensual” touching that would relax and stimulate his clients.

But Joondalup Magistrate’s Court was yesterday told his massage techniques, performed at his house in Ridgewood, led to three women lodging police complaints in late 2016, after he had been outed on a Facebook page by one of his alleged victims.

The three assaults allegedly occurred in July and October 2016, the first on a then 31-year-old woman Mr Lyon had messaged to ask if she wanted to swap techniques.

She told the court that after he placed crystal bowls on her body to help her relax, he told her he liked to work with the “female arousal centre”— but promised he would not touch her breasts or nipples. As the massage continued, she said, that was what Mr Lyon did.

The woman said while she maintained contact with Mr Lyon after the massage, she also felt uncomfortable. She then read a Facebook post by another experienced massage therapist.

In that post, the second alleged victim described what happened to her during a massage at Mr Lyon’s house in October 2016.

She said that during the treatment, Mr Lyon rubbed her breasts and nipples five or six times, which made her feel “unsafe”. After several attempts in the weeks following to address the massage with Mr Lyon, the woman said she felt so disturbed she wrote the post and then went to police.

With her was the third victim, who alleges her assault took place three weeks after the second woman, again in Mr Lyon’s home.

She said she was asked to strip naked and Mr Lyon massaged her buttocks, pubic bone and breasts — none of which she wanted or expected. While he was massaging her earlobes, she said he offered her a “Saturday special” — which she took as something sexual.

“He said he could recreate the best orgasm that I had ever had — I felt frozen, scared, embarrassed and alone,” she said.